Stone Mountain Park has delighted guests for 50 years but people have visited the area around the mountain for much longer.
Timeline
•1838 – Aaron Cloud built the first tourist attraction on the top of the mountain. The wooden tower was 165 feet tall with a 40 foot square base. There was a $0.50 charge to climb the tower.
•1849 – The tower blew down during a storm and was never rebuilt.
•1865-1877 – Reconstruction rebuilds the railways and in turn restores tourism and Stone Mountain’s quarrying industry. Granite is shipped all over the world. It was used at the federal gold depository at Fort Knox, the Panama Canal, the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and in the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial, just to name a few. Virtually every state has a building that uses Stone Mountain granite.
•1887 – The Venable Brothers bought all of Stone Mountain for $48,000 and ran the quarrying operations.
•1915 – Gutzon Borglum, a famous sculptor, drew up the first sketches of the memorial, for Mrs. Helen Plane, a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). She was the first person to talk about putting a memorial carving on the mountain.
•1916 – Samuel H. Venable leased the north face of the mountain to the UDC on the condition that a suitable monument be completed in 12 years. Lack of funding and World War I delayed the start of the carving until 1923.
•June 23, 1923 – Carving begins on Stone Mountain.
•1924 – Borglum finished the head of Robert E. Lee and unveiled it on Lee’s birthday, January 19.
•Feb. 19, 1924 – Committee overseeing the construction of Stone Mountain votes to cancel Gutzon Borglum’s contract, following Borglum’s outburst in the local papers over problems with the project. Borglum went on to carve the figures on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
•April 1, 1925 – Sculptor Augustus Lukeman takes over the project. He suggests that three men, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, be enshrined on the face of the mountain.
•April 9, 1928 – After blasting Gutzon Borglum’s work from the face of the mountain, Augustus Lukeman unveils his work.
•May 20, 1928 – The Venables reclaim Stone Mountain, ending any attempt to complete the sculpture. Lukeman was only able to get the figures of Lee and Davis finished before this time.
•1944 – First Easter Sunrise Service first held.
•April 11, 1956 – The Venable family signs a quit claim deed for the area encompassing Stone Mountain, giving it to Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, Inc.
•1958 – The State of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain and the surrounding land to create a 3,200 acre park. Focus was placed on development for recreation and entertainment and the completion of the carving.
•Feb. 21, 1958 – Gov. Marvin Griffin signs a bill creating the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, superseding the old Authority.
•Sept. 19, 1958 – Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, Inc. gives Stone Mountain to the state of Georgia.
•April 12, 1962 – The Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad opens at Stone Mountain Park.
•April 26, 1962 – The first Stone Mountain train, General II, pulled out of the station.
•Nov. 28, 1962 – The Skylift opens at Stone Mountain Park. Governor Ernest Vandiver and Swiss Ambassador August Lindt attend the ceremony.
•April 16, 1963 – The Antebellum Plantation opens at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park.
•1963 – The Antique Car and Treasure Museum and Confederate Hall opens at Stone Mountain Park.
•July 4, 1964 – Carving resumes on the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial. It was under the direction of Walter Hancock. Roy Faulkner was the work crew foreman.
•1964 – The Carillon is donated by the Coca-Cola Company after its exhibit at the World’s Fair in New York City.
•1964 – The Riverboat Complex opens for the first time.
•April 14, 1965 – Stone Mountain Park officially opens, operated by Berlio of Georgia, Inc.
•1965 – Construction on the Stone Mountain Inn is completed.
•1965 – The Grist Mill and Covered Bridge are moved to Stone Mountain Park from Elijay, GA and Athens, GA respectively.
•1967 – The Fantastic Fourth Celebration first held.
•1968 – An 18-hole Golf Course designed by Robert Trent Jones opens.
•1968 – Beach opens at Stone Mountain Park.
•1968 – Yellow Daisy Festival is first held at Stone Mountain Park.
•May 9, 1970 – Dedication services are held for the carving although work continues through 1972. Vice president Spiro Agnew attends instead of President Nixon.
•March 3, 1972 – The Stone Mountain Carving is completed.
I visited with my family in August of '64. You could see the workers from the tramway but they also had scaffolding for the more daring. You had to descend 200 feet or more down the face of the rock to get to the point were you could actually look down upon the "sculptors" (more like demolitions experts). It was definitely worth the trek.
I've always wanted to go back and see the completed sculpture - I guess I'd better accelerate my plans.
•1849 – The tower blew down during a storm and was never rebuilt.
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1849 - Al gore’s great, great, great, grandfather proclaims Climate Change for the first time.